Breaking The Girl
by Now.Get.This
Summary: DISCONTINUED Laurie is the most unpopular girl in school, and when her mother leaves things just get worse. Was called Laurie Jean Randle.
1. Chapter 1

B R E A K I N G. T H E. G I R L.  
_Laurie Jean Randle.  
_**Chapter 1**

I left the classroom right as the bell for lunch went. The halls were already filled with people and I wanted to get outside quickly. It took me a few minutes but I finally made it to the doors that led out to the football field. If you can call it that. Half the grass was dead and there were patches of just dirt. Only a few people were out here already. Waiting for their friends to show up and start a game. But I wasn't out here to start a game of football. I wanted to sit in the shade of the bleachers that ran along the sides of the field. Brenda and Jane were both absent today. And I was by myself, so decided to hide away where no one could find me.

"Laurie!" I looked back at the school building for a second. Only to see Daniel and Ralph laughing. They continued yelling things at me, things I'm not going to repeat. I felt a few tears sting my eyes. Since I had turned 12, I was the kid that everyone picked on. Brenda and Jane don't care what others say about me. But even when they tell me every other person is stupid, I still want to cry until I've got a headache and I feel sick. I made it to the bleachers and I went around to the back, where I could sit under them and hope they didn't collapse on top of me. I sat down and smoothed my skirt down over my legs. I took a few deep breaths, but the lump in my throat got bigger and I couldn't hold the tears back any longer. I put my face in my hands, but didn't cry. I made myself not cry. Instead I just let the tears fall from my eyes, drop down onto my top and dampen my hair.

After a few minutes I had a bit of a headache, my top was stuck to my chest, my brown hair was a mess and I felt tired. I wanted to fall asleep then and there but I knew I couldn't. I wanted to go to my English classes after lunch. I loved English, especially the grammar and spelling part of it. I didn't like Sport class though. The idea of people watching me play basketball or soccer makes me nervous. I try real hard in my other subjects though and my marks are pretty good. I sat silently listening to everyone else having fun and talking with their friends. I tried to calm myself down, but when I thought back to the second I turned around and saw both of them standing there laughing I couldn't help but begin to cry again. This is stupid I thought a sixteen-year-old crying because someone called her a few names.

I pulled out the little compact mirror I kept in my bag and checked out my eyes. Oh, they were red alright. I quickly put the mirror away, not wanting to look at myself anymore. I pulled out the sandwich I had made myself this morning and took a bite. From where I was sitting I could see out onto one of the streets that surrounded our school. There was no one walking past today. Usually there were heaps of people. Not today. And this made the feeling in my stomach worse. It was like I was the only one left in the world. Besides the noise of the other kids in the school, it was just me.

I finished off my sandwich quickly and brushed the crumbs off my hands. It felt like I'd been sitting here forever. I leaned back against one of the poles that held up the bleachers. I sighed as a few more tears ran down my face. I'm not making excuses, but there was another reason for me to cry. My mother had left us. I was very close to my mother. And just last week I came home from school just as she was leaving. She didn't say whether she was leaving town or what. So for all I know she could still be here somewhere. The only reason I wanted her to stay really, was that I was her favorite. Selfish, I know. Steve, my older brother, hated this and I used to rub it in his face. I was always asking for new things, that I wouldn't even get, but still Steve hated this. My dad was never around much, and still isn't. He's either working or going out to drink with the guys from work. No, he's not abusive or anything. But with him out a lot and my mother gone the house is empty. And I don't like quiet. I don't mind being by myself, sometimes. Like now for example. But I also don't like having just one other person with me. Because even though Steve is my brother he could kill me. And I'm scared to die.

There was a loud bang, making me jump. I looked to my left where a football was bouncing along; making its way to the fence. I didn't get up to get it. If I stayed quiet enough, the person who was going to get it wouldn't notice me. I could hear someone coming along now. They were running fast at first, slowly starting to walk. He picked up the ball and turned around to walk back to the game. I'm safe, I thought. I kept watching him walk. And for one last moment before he went out of sight he saw me. First he gave me a weird look. And I thought he was going to say something. But instead he walked on as if he only imagined me being here. I knew who that guy was, his name was Ryan. He was in my English and Math class. I had spoken to him a few times and he was a well liked guy. The kind of guy who I expected to yell rude things at me as I walked by. But he didn't do that.

Nothing else happened for the rest of lunch hour. Except a few people walked by on the streets. Three women, dressed nicely and chatting to each other. They all saw me and one of them smiled at me. I smiled back quickly before she looked away. And that's all it took for me to walk past Daniel and Ralph on my way to the bathrooms. Usually I would've taken the long way around. I do anything to avoid them two. And I didn't even care that they called me a bitch as I walked past. Because all I could think of was that lady smiling at me. She didn't care that I was alone, or that I wasn't pretty enough. I walked on to the bathrooms, before the bell for the end of lunch went and every girl in the school ran in there. To make sure their make-up was perfect and that they still looked good.

There was no one else in the bathrooms I went into. Lucky. I quickly went to the toilet and washed my hands, making sure to waste all the soap in the dispenser. I caught a look of my face in the mirror. I had forgotten how red my eyes were before. Now they were back to normal, I guess you could say. Except for the fact that one of my brown eyes was slightly bigger than the other. My top was pretty much dry, though it was wrinkled a little. I tried to smooth my hair down with my hands, but this didn't work so well. I studied my reflection a minute longer. Putting my hands on my hips, I tried to find those curves all the other girls have. But I could barely see them. The bell rang and I pushed my way out, while every other girl fought to get in. I walked slowly along the hallway to my locker. I didn't have to go far from my locker to get to English, just around the corner. But if I got in early, I could choose any seat I wanted. And it meant less time worrying about whether the next guy I saw was going to be Daniel or Ralph.

Slamming my locker door shut after getting the books I needed, I quickly went around the corner to my English classroom. Mrs. Brookes was already in the room. Writing something up on the blackboard. I made sure to slam the door a little when I walked in. It was always awkward when the teacher turned around and got scared because you were there. She turned around and smiled at me. I smiled back, muttered a small 'Hi' and went to the seat in the back corner of the room. I liked to sit in the corner, so no one could write on my back and if anyone was to come over my way I could see who.

A few minutes later most of the other students had come in and sat down. There was an empty seat beside me. And hopefully no one would sit there. Besides if anyone did, Daniel and Ralph would give them crap about it. They were already here, sitting at the front. They were the 'popular' guys of Tenth Grade. Everyone did what they did. Sarah and Marilyn, the 'popular' girls weren't in any of my classes and they only annoyed me if they were with Daniel and Ralph. Not many people did actually tease me; it was only really Ralph and Daniel, and their friends. But everyone else pretty much avoided me so as not to get given crap about me. Steve didn't know about me getting teased. Even though I was in the same year as Two-Bit one of his good friends. Oh sure we only had one class together and we barely spoke, but I thought he would've known. And may have told Steve. But he hasn't.

"Ok, class listen up!" Mrs. Brookes said from the front of the room. Good, no one was sitting beside me. "I told you guys yesterday to start the essay about yourselves. Has anyone finished?" she looked around but no one said they'd finished. Of course, I don't think anyone had even started. This essay, we were to write one every three months. To see how much we had changed. I liked writing them. I pulled out what I had started so far as Mrs. Brookes began telling people off for not starting and tried to get everyone to start writing. I began where I left off. Not even realizing when someone sat down beside me. They didn't speak to me, but when I looked to my right and found Ryan sitting there, watching what I was writing, I almost died. Because he scared me. I moved my paper to the other side of my desk, so he couldn't see.

"Sorry." he muttered when he saw what I did. I rolled my eyes and began to write again. I wrote how my mother had left, and how I hated being alone. I wrote of how my friends were absent and how much worse school was without them. I was finished with five minutes to spare before the bell for the end of school. And I really wanted to go over it, make sure I spelt everything right and used the right punctuation. But I decided to save that for when I got home.

The bell went and as I got up to leave I caught Ryan's eye again. He was still sitting down, he had to stay back. But he smiled at me, only a small smile. But it was like at lunch hour, that smile was enough to make me ignore Daniels rude comments on my way out. Enough to make me ignore all the people in the hallway. It was enough to get me out into the streets for my walk home. But it began to wear off when I got closer to home and as I walked along less and less people were about. It was just me left in the world again. Just me.

It was just me when I got home and for a while after that. Until I heard a car's radio get louder and louder as it got closer. And I could hear his friends talking and laughing. And I heard him slam the car door shut and he walked up the path to the front door. Then he came inside. Steve was home.

"Hey." he said as he walked past my bedroom, where I was fixing up my essay.

"Hi." I said. He shut his bedroom door and I could hear him opening and closing draws for a minute. Then he went past again, off to the kitchen. I could hear him again, going through the fridge. He appeared at my door way again.

"Yeah. I'm going to work. Come by if you want, I'm working until six-thirty." he said. I nodded, as if I was going to go by. "See ya later." he said and walked away.

"Bye." I said, and I heard him slam the front door shut. I don't think he heard me but it doesn't matter. Steve and I don't spend much time together. Though we're pretty close. It's a different relationship than what most brothers and sisters would have. I wrote this into my essay. It was something I wanted Mrs. Brookes to know. It was five-thirty by the time I stopped writing. Even though I thought I'd finished I had all these ideas just coming to me right now. It was going to take me a while longer to finish this. But I didn't mind. I had nothing else to do. It was Tuesday, my dad worked late on Tuesday. This meant I'd probably be alone until eight o' clock. Perfect. I put my paper and pen down, standing up to stretch. It was warm inside and I went out to the front yard for fresh air. The sun was still shining brightly and I put my hand above my eyes to block it out. We had no front porch at our house. Our house was a simple white house, black front door that when you went inside was the lounge room on your left and the dining room, which we hardly used, on your right. Keep walking and it's the kitchen on your left and a doorway leading to a hallway with the bedrooms and bathroom. Lucky my dad's bedroom was at the back of the house, so it was easy to go for walks late at night. So our house was nothing special but I loved it.

A few minutes later I found myself going for a walk. I had all these ideas of what to write but I couldn't get them down properly. I thought a walk and fresh air would be best. When I went back home I would eat and then finish off my essay. There were still little kids playing in the streets and sometimes I could hear their mothers calling them in for dinner, which of course made me want my mother very badly. I didn't like to look at people as I walked by them, so I kept my head down looking at the footpath. Until I heard my name being called. I looked up to see I was at the DX, where Steve worked. He was calling my name. I smiled a little and went over to him, where he was sitting up on top of one of the gas pumps. His friend Sodapop was there with him. They worked there together.

"Hi." I said to both of them.

"Hey." Soda replied, grinning. I looked away from them both and studied the street. It was pretty quiet and not many people were about.

"We're closing early." Steve said, "And I'm going to Soda's for dinner-"

"Wanna come?" Soda asked. I shook my head and then decided that was a little immature.

"No thanks. I'll just go home." I said, and smiled so they wouldn't feel bad.

"Well you want a ride home? Soda's brother can drive ya." Steve said. I agreed to this and I went inside with them while they closed it all up. Then we had to wait outside for a few minutes. It was getting cold and the sun was quickly setting. I watched it disappear out of sight as Soda's brother Darry drove me home. I really wanted Steve to come home and eat with me. He always made me feel better and like I said, I didn't like being home alone. Especially at night. But if I told him to stay with me he'd ask why. And I didn't want to say why. So I waved bye to him as Darry drove away once I was at the front door. I went inside, turning all the lights on. I went into the lounge room, turned the TV on and grabbed the phone, sitting in the corner. I was going to call Brenda.

**I don't own Sodapop, Darry or Steve.**


	2. Chapter 2

B R E A K I N G. T H E. G I R L.  
_Laurie Jean Randle_  
**Chapter Two**

It was eight o' clock. I was worried. Steve wasn't home yet. My father wasn't home yet. It was just me, still. Ok, Steve usually didn't come home this early and my father didn't come home at exactly eight o' clock. But still. I was looking out the window, through the curtains, looking up and down the street. Where are they? I smiled to myself when I saw a figure coming into sight down our street. But they stopped short of our house and went inside their house two doors down. I gave up looking and sat back down. I'd finished talking to Brenda a few minutes ago. She says she isn't feeling so well and she may not come to school tomorrow. But really, I think she just doesn't want to hand in her English homework. I tried calling Jane but she didn't answer. So I sat back in the corner and watched the TV.

The house was silent, besides the TV. It made me nervous. Whenever there was silence I usually found myself waiting for something bad to happen. Even if we were doing a test at school and the room is all quiet but the occasional pen scratching on paper. It made me want to scream and run away to find a place where there is lots of noise and people. I still hadn't finished my essay. So after taking another look around the room, making sure there were no signs of another person, I ran to my room. I grabbed my paper and pen and a few notes I had and ran back to the lounge room.

I'd been writing for only a few minutes when I heard a car pull up in the street. It was either our house or next door. And I waited until I heard whoever it was walk up the front yard and bang on the front door. I dropped my things to the floor and jumped up, happy to be opening the door. My dad was home.

"Hi dad." I said as I opened the screen door and let him in. He grunted and continued on through the house, probably going to his bedroom. He disappeared down the hallway as I shut the door. Taking one last look outside, but there was no sign of Steve. I sighed, sitting back down to finish my essay. I could hear dad muttering things to himself as he went back out into the kitchen. I ignored him. He'd been at work all day and he must've been tired.

"Laurie!" he yelled. What does he want, I thought.

"Yeah?"

"Where's Steve?" he asked. That's what I was thinking, I thought. I gathered my papers and stood up, going to the kitchen. My dad was looking through the mail on the kitchen bench. It was the same pile of mail he'd been going through since last Thursday. Steve and I decided not to tell him about this.

"He's at his friend's house. He said he'd be home soon." I said.

"He called?"

"Um, no. I went for a walk and he was working. He said he'd be home by eight-thirty." I said. And I left him to look over the bills while I went to my room. I just had a few more things to write down in the essay, so I left it on my dresser as I got changed, so I could go to sleep as soon as I'd finished. Once I was changed I sat down on my bed, quickly writing. I could do the punctuating and spelling tomorrow in Math class. My hand was sore from writing but I wanted to finish this. As I was writing my name at the top of the pages I heard the front door open and slam shut. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had my bedroom door open and I waited for Steve to go past so I could ask where he'd been.

But after a few minutes he didn't go past. And now I could hear him talking to our dad.

"Where've you been?" dad asked.

"I was at Soda's house." Steve said calmly.

"Soda's? Who do you think you're kidding? Where've you really been?" Oh, he was getting angry alright. Steve sighed.

"Ok, I was at Darrel's house." he said. They were silent for a second. What are they doing? I got up off my bed and walked to my bedroom door. I could see into the kitchen from here. I kept my body hidden behind the doorframe, peeking out into the kitchen. They were staring at each other from either side of the kitchen. Then dad began to walk, towards the lounge room. But stopped when he got to Steve. They stared at each other a second longer, until dad hit Steve over the head. It wasn't a hit as if to say 'you do stupid things but I still love you'. No, it was a real hit. The smack of his hand on his head so loud it echoed inside my head. I jumped when he hit him. I quickly went and sat back on my bed. I hadn't seen a thing. Steve mumbled something and I heard him walk into the hallway. I saw him walk down to his room, rubbing his head and trying to act tough. I don't know why, he had no one to impress.

I waited until I heard the TV volume be turned up and then I went to see Steve. Yeah, I knew he was alright. Well, he wanted me to think he was alright. But I wanted to know what he was doing at Soda's house. I knocked on the closed door and went in even when he didn't reply. He was sitting on the edge of his bed staring at the wall.

"Hey." I said leaning against the door frame.

"Hi." he mumbled.

"Where were you?" I asked. He looked up at me. You gonna say something? I thought.

"At Soda's, I told you." he said. He rubbed his head a second and then saw me watching him. He took his hand away and too his shoes off. "What do you want?"

"What happened to your head?" I asked. He gave me a look that said he wanted me dead, either that or out of his room.

"Me and Soda were playin' around. That's all." he stood up and came over to where I was standing. I stood back from the doorway. "Bye." he said and shut the door. And for once he didn't slam it. Yeah don't get dad angry, I thought as I walked back to my room. I turned off the light and climbed into bed.

* * *

The next day, Wednesday March 20th, both Jane and Brenda were absent again. I really don't think Jane was sick but she's not the type to skip a class either. So I don't know why she was away. But it didn't matter. As long as I could spend the 50 minutes of Math class perfecting my English essay, I didn't care that they were absent. By lunch I wasn't in such a great mood. After being pushed around a little in between classes by Ralph and having a few people whisper and point at me, I wasn't feeling so great anymore. And now that I think about it, I did care that Brenda and Jane were away. I needed them here. English was the last period before lunch hour. I was starving and since my locker was right by my English class, I was outside on my way to the bleachers before I knew it.

It was the same as yesterday, only a few people outside, two of them I recognized as Two-Bit and one of Steve's other friends. They didn't see me and I made sure of that, walking quickly along to the bleachers and hiding behind them again. But today wasn't the same as yesterday. There was already someone else here. His name is Ryan. He was sitting maybe ten feet away from me and I ignored him. Just pretend today is the same as yesterday. I'm alone and no one is going to walk by on the streets either. But as hungry as I was I couldn't eat a thing. I could feel him watching me. He wouldn't look away. Come on, Ryan what are you gonna say? I thought. Or maybe I was just being silly and he wasn't really looking. I quickly glanced at him, just in time to see him look the other way. That doesn't exactly mean he was staring at me.

Oh who cares! Just stop thinking about him. But I couldn't. He was there and I didn't want him there. I wanted him to be out with his friends, playing football or whatever it is he does. No one walked past the school, so it was just us. Just us. Anything could happen. I mean we were hidden behind the bleachers; no one was going to come behind here. And if they did, they'd probably leave after seeing us. I'll just tell him to leave, I thought. I couldn't embarrass myself since we were the only two here. I spent the next few minutes trying to calm myself down and convince myself that I wouldn't look stupid telling him to leave. Finally, I did it.

"Why are you here?" I asked my voice was pretty quiet and shaky. At first, I didn't think he'd heard. But he surprised me when he turned to me, smiling and he answered.

"Relaxing." he said and he leaned back on his hands with his legs stretched out. I rolled my eyes and stared back across the road. My stomach was grumbling and I tried real hard to leave my sandwich in my bag. But it was hard. I pulled it out and quickly took a bite. I was about to take another but instead I stopped.

"Why aren't you with your friends?" I asked. Again, I thought he hadn't heard. As much as I wanted to talk loud, make myself seem tough, I couldn't.

"I don't have any." he said. Oh yeah that's right, mock me.

"Whatever." I muttered. I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I hoped he'd get the message he wasn't wanted. But he didn't and he stayed where he was. Maybe he was dared to sit and talk to me all lunch hour. There was yelling from the football field. Someone scored. As the yelling died down Ryan stood up and walked past me.

"Want a coke?" he asked. Yes please, I thought. I didn't want to say yes, it seemed rude. But I didn't want to say no, because I did want one. So I shrugged. "Alright." he said and he walked around the side of the bleachers and disappeared. I didn't wait for him to come back. I wasn't sure what the time was but I wanted to go and calm down. I stood up, dropping the rest of my sandwich and dusted off my skirt. I put my bag on my shoulder and walked around into the sunlight. I couldn't walk through the football field since they were still playing. So I went around it, and it seemed to take forever. I could see a group of guys up ahead and I wanted to turn around and go the other way. But I would've looked silly then. So I continued on. Outside I looked confident, inside I wanted to die I was embarrassed. When I was a few feet away from them, I realized, it was Steve and his friends. I wouldn't' say anything, I decided. And as I walked by I smiled a little at Steve and didn't look at the other guys.

It felt like I'd been walking for hours but I finally made it to the bathrooms.

* * *

After school, I had gotten home a little later than usual; the teacher had kept us back. But I didn't care. Steve wasn't working today and that meant he'd be home. I wouldn't be alone. I closed the front door quietly and went right on to my room. I quickly changed into an old pair of pants that I wear around the house and left my top on. I was looking around in the kitchen for a book I had left in there. And as I stood up from looking under the kitchen table he was standing there. Soda. He gave me a heart attack.

"H-hi." I said, wanting to leave because I felt my face turning red.

"Hey." he said, "How you doing?" he asked, picking up one of Steve's magazines he had left on the table.

"Alright." I said. We stood in a silence for a few moments before I walked past him and into my room. I shut the door. I can't believe he saw me like this. Oh sure, he was good-looking. I wouldn't date him. He was my brother's best friend! But still. . . I breathed for a minute. Concentrated on breathing.

"Want a coke?" Soda yelled. Coke. Ryan. . Ryan! What did he think when he came back and I wasn't there? He won't ever talk to me again. Of course he won't want to. He had to talk to me today. He was dared by his friends. He won't even sit next to me in class if the last seat left was beside me. Why do I care if he doesn't talk to me?

* * *

It was midnight. My dad wasn't home yet. I was worried. I couldn't sleep. It was just me and Steve, who was sleeping. I peeked out of the kitchen window which, if you looked from the perfect angle, you could see the front of the house. No car. Where must he be? I turned around to get a drink as Steve came in. He didn't scare me, though I thought he was sleeping.

"What're you doing?' he asked.

"Nothing." I said quickly. "Just getting a drink." I went over to the cupboard and got two glasses. I filled them with water and offered one to him. He took it and flicked through the magazine on the table. "Where's dad?"

"I don't know. Don't care." he said. He finished his water and slammed the glass on the table. He hadn't shown any signs of pain on his head. I wanted to ask him about it but decided not to. He was already angry, a little. "Hey, um, you know Daniel and Ralph?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, unfortunately I know them.

"Yeah." I said. He still didn't look at me.

"They tease you?" I felt myself just go down. Ok I didn't actually fall but I just felt myself go to this level I hadn't gone to many times before. Where I felt worthless.

"Yeah." I said my voice cracking. Why do you wanna know?

"Yeah." he said. He looked up at me, my eyes now watery. "Sorry." he said and he turned walking down the hall and I heard him shut his bedroom door.

**I don't own Steve, Darry or Sodapop.**


	3. Chapter 3

B R E A K I N G. T H E. G I R L.  
_Laurie Jean Randle_  
**Chapter Three**

I walked to school the next morning, Thursday March 21st, with Steve. I'm not exactly sure why he wanted to walk with me, but I didn't mind. He claims he got up late and didn't have time to go by Two-Bit's place and get a ride to school. So we walked side by side in silence. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. After I had spoken to him at midnight I had cried for a while. Why? Because I was embarrassed. I mean Steve wasn't exactly popular, but he had lots of friends and had parties to go to every weekend. Whereas I had two friends to sit with at lunch and what did I spend my weekends doing? Sitting at home watching TV, occasionally going to Brenda or Jane's house. I wasn't sure if either of them were coming to school today, so was preparing myself for a lunch hour full of silence and laughs from Daniel or Ralph.

We were closer to school now, hearing the yelling and laughing from everyone making their way inside. We were late; the warning bell had already gone. But the 'cool' groups were still sitting out front. As we walked inside the gate and towards the front doors I caught Daniel's eye for a second. I thought he wasn't going to say a thing.

"Nice shoes." Daniel said, for half a second I thought he was being serious. He'd changed, just like that, overnight. But when I heard the snickering from the girls sitting with him I went red and walked quicker.

"Fuckin' asshole!" Steve yelled after him. As we walked up the steps together I could hear him muttering a few things under his breath. Until we got inside where Two-Bit and his friend Johnny were waiting for him. I smiled at them and walked off towards my locker glad to be away from them all. Before I even saw them, I could hear Brenda and Jane chatting to each other, quite loudly as usual.

"Hey." I said, and playfully pushed Brenda out of my way to get to my locker. She didn't even notice she'd been moved because she was still chatting excitedly about the date she had on Friday night.

"Hi Laurie." Jane said to me, shutting her locker door. "Did you do the English essay?" she asked. I nodded, grabbing the books I needed for my classes.

"I already handed it in." I said. She groaned and leaned against the lockers.

"I need someone to copy." she said, I laughed. I liked it when it was like this. Me and Jane having a conversation while Brenda was in her own world.

"Because we lead the exact same lives don't we." I said as we began walking along to Math class. The bell for the start of class rang just as we walked inside. Brenda had stopped talking about her date and Jane was telling me why she was away. There were two seats in the second last row, right in the middle and on seat in front of us. I sat next to Jane while Brenda sat in front of us, already talking to Lisa sitting next to her. Mr. Croft spoke up at the front of the room. Telling us to start where we left of the last time we had Math. Mr. Croft is a sixty-something year old teacher who doesn't have the greatest memory. Sometimes even forgetting to come to class.

"So I got two days off." Jane finished. Apparently her brother hadn't been feeling so well and since he was staying home from school Jane was allowed two days off as well. I wished I was allowed to stay home from school for no reason. But since I don't see dad as much I never have the chance to ask. "So how were your lunch hours without us?" Jane asked, opening her notebook.

"It was ok." I said, thinking of the lady who smiled at me. Yes, that still gave me a fuzzy feeling inside.

"Well yeah, I kinda felt bad about leaving you alone. . ." Jane trailed off, flicking her shoulder-length blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Don't worry." I told her, as Brenda turned around to say something.

"There's a party on Saturday night." she said, "Wanna come? It's at some guy's place." she said, looking at the ceiling. This meant she was thinking.

"Yeah sure." Jane said right away.

"I'll come!" I turned around to see Two-Bit Matthews grinning back at the three of us. I glanced sideways at Jane who was doing the same to me. We turned back around and looked at Brenda.

"Sure, whatever." she muttered turning back around in her seat. I began to start on my Math work. I was ahead, since Jane and Brenda had been absent so worked silently, concentrating real hard. Until I hard a loud crash behind me. These were usual noises in our class, either someone has fallen out of their chair or dropped something. Everyone turned around and burst out laughing at what we saw. Ryan on the floor, his legs stuck in the air and no one would help him up. I laughed along with everyone else. Until I caught Ryan's eye as he got back up. I instantly stopped laughing and stared at him. He had a grin on his face, as if he had done a magic trick and I quickly turned back around to work, like nothing had happened.

* * *

Before lunch I had Art class, which both Brenda and Jane aren't in. It's the only class we don't have together. I told them to meet me behind the bleachers. I liked this place, in the shade and you didn't have to watch out for footballs that could hit you. Plus because there was no one else here, I wasn't finding myself waiting for someone to laugh. Sometimes I get so nervous about people teasing me I think anyone who laughs is laughing at me. Which they might be.

I made my way towards the bleachers. Though it was warm I could see the clouds covering the blue sky and turning it a grey color. It was going to rain soon. I had gotten out of class a little late and had to walk around the football filed, which took maybe a minute longer, but still. Did I really want everyone watching me go by?

"Laurie!" Oh great, Daniel and Ralph. Why me, I thought, why me? "Laurie!" I could hear someone running towards me and hopped to god there wasn't a football headed my way. The pounding of feet on the ground got louder and skidded to a halt beside me. I looked to see Ryan. He was grinning at me, holding two cokes.

"Hi." I said, quietly and he offered a coke to me. I took it and gave him a strange look.

"When I came back yesterday you were gone." he said, looking at his feet. I nodded and didn't open it yet. I didn't want him thinking I was fat.

"Thanks." I said.

"How come you went?" he asked. I shrugged and silently begged him to leave me alone. But a little part of me also wanted him around. He was a nice boy. I knew he wasn't going to be rude to me. Well, I told myself that.

"I had to talk to someone. And I didn't say I wanted one anyway." I told him. He chuckled. We reached the other side of the football field and walked behind the bleachers. It was a little bit darker under the bleachers, since the sky was so grey and it was a bit cold as well. We sat down, side by side but not too close. I purposely sat away from him. We were quiet as he opened his coke and took a sip. I counted to thirty before I opened mine, not wanting to seem eager for a sip of it.

"So, Math class was pretty fun 'ey?" he said. I looked up at him and smiled a small smile.

"Yeah." I said and broke out into a grin. We were silent; I think the both of us were remembering what had happened. "How did you end up on the floor anyway?" I asked, accidentally speaking my thoughts. I looked up at him quickly but he didn't notice my embarrassment and answered my question.

"Well Two-Bit, he's funny sometimes; somehow he pulled me onto the floor. Really I can't remember it happening." he said laughing. "One second I was doing my work, the next I was on the floor. Somewhere in between that he pulled me to the floor." I laughed quietly. We both fell silent at the same time, both of us not sure what to say. I sighed as a mother and her baby in a stroller walked by, giving the two of us a weird look. Like we weren't supposed to be alone together. I could hear Brenda laughing. Everyone could hear her laughing. Her laugh was the loudest I had ever heard. Because it was so loud it made you laugh more and before you know it you're fighting for breath with tears rolling down your cheeks.

"So are you-" Ryan began and was stopped by Jane who said she was sorry they took so long. I nodded and turned back to Ryan waiting for him to finish his sentence. He didn't. Instead he got up, said 'Bye' and walked off. I bit my lip. What was he going to ask me? What question would start with 'So are you'? I pushed this thought to the back of my mind and took another sip of my coke, concentrating on Brenda who was again talking about her date on Friday.

* * *

My class was kept back at the end of the day. For only a minute though, so our teacher could tell Jason off for sharing his experiences with us. Jason got a kick out of that but it made me turn red and not look up from my notebook on the desk. I hurried along out of the classroom to get my things from my locker. I had to finish my Math work from today. I walked outside where Steve was sitting on the steps with Curly Shepard. I didn't say anything to him. I didn't want to be annoying. So I walked on by him.

"Laurie." I heard him say, coming up behind me. I knew it was him without turning around. Steve has a way of talking; it's firm and loud and makes you listen to him. When he says Laurie it's not the way Daniel says it. Daniel says 'Laurie' in a playful way. Sometimes when Steve calls on me it makes me think I've done something wrong. "Hey." he said, walking beside me.

"Hi." I said, smiling. "You walking with me?" I asked. He nodded and we pushed our way past a group of guys standing around at the bottom of the steps. I saw Daniel and Ralph standing at the gate, a few of their friends around them. I know all I care about is Daniel and Ralph. But I don't care about spending my\\my time at school worrying about where they are. It'll be worth it when I finish high school alive. As we walked by them I heard them mutter something. Steve was between us and I couldn't make out what they had said. I kept on walking ignoring it. As I made it outside the gate I heard something.

"What'd you say?" I turned around to see Steve standing in front of Daniel, Ralph at his side and Curly at Steve's side. Daniel repeated what he had said but again, I didn't hear him. My eyes widened as I watched Steve take a swing at Daniel, hitting him right in the nose and sending him to the ground. I watched as his head bounced on the ground because he'd hit it so hard. Everyone had stopped, staring at what had happened. It was like everything was frozen. Until Ralph started on Steve. Pushing him to the ground, sitting on his chest and punched him in the jaw. Curly swung at Ralph, hitting him in the back of the head. Making Ralph roll onto his back on the ground. Steve used his chance to jump up and see what he had actually done. Ralph was sitting up now, grabbing his head. Daniel was beginning to get up. But Curly stopped him, pulling out a switchblade and flicking it open.

Ralph and Daniel stared at him. They both knew Curly would use it if he wanted to. Steve, acting as if nothing happened walked over to me. He nodded his head to the street and I followed him.

The streets were quiet as he got closer to home. I knew this was the right time to say it. Though I couldn't bring myself to say it. Thanks, I kept saying over and over in my head. As we walked up the front yard to the front door, that was when I said it.

"Thanks."

"Whatever." he said back, opening the door and walking on inside.

**I don't own Steve, Two-Bit or Curly.**


	4. Chapter 4

B R E A K I N G. T H E. G I R L.  
_Laurie Jean Randle_  
**Chapter Four**

We didn't talk of what happened at school. The fight and everything. Well, at least Steve 'won'. That's all that mattered. Steve went right on inside to his bedroom and didn't come out. I thought maybe he hurt himself but I tried my best not to worry about him. If he didn't want me to know he was hurt then I didn't care. I lay outside for a while, in the grass looking up at the sky. Most of the grass was dead so it hurt to lay on it, but I didn't mind. I also didn't mind being home with Steve, just the two of us. He stood up for me today, which probably meant he wouldn't want me dead. So I wasn't scared.

I closed my eyes and didn't think. Just felt the wind softly blowing across the yard and the sun shining in between the clouds. I was about to drift off to sleep when a loud bang woke me up. I sat up brushing the grass off my arms and turned around towards the house. Steve was at the window, he looked at me for a second and then he disappeared behind the curtains. I was feeling a little hungry and so decided to go down to the corner store and buy myself a candy bar. I brushed off my skirt and top as I walked to the back door. I went inside to my bedroom, slipped my shoes on and quickly brushed my hair. I grabbed a few coins that were on my dresser and made my way outside. Steve was out in the front yard, leaning against the wall, and smoking.

"I'm going down the corner store. You want something?" I asked slowly. He didn't reply, instead taking a drag on his cigarette and staring out across the road. I shrugged and walked down to the footpath, taking a left. A few blocks away there was a little store. That was where I was headed. I walked along slowly, looking down at my feet. Maybe I was beginning to get over the fear of being alone but I wasn't ready to face people I didn't know. I made it to the corner store rather quickly, considering how slow I was walking. Inside it was cool and there were only a few people around. I smiled at the woman who was standing behind the counter as I walked past her, on my way to the back where the candy bars were. There was a whole wall of shelves filled with plenty of different chocolates. I scanned the shelves looking for a Kit Kat bar. I found the stack of them and took one off the top. I checked how much money I'd have left over once I bought this. Just enough to get Steve a Kit Kat bar as well. I grabbed another one and held them both, still looking at the candy bars. I had nothing else to do this afternoon so I had time to look over the shelves again in case I wanted something different. I heard the bell ring as someone else came into the store. The place was pretty quiet but the radio going at the front of the shop. So I could hear whoever are footsteps coming my way. I decided to ignore them if they were going to laugh at me. My mother always said to ignore people if they were rude to me. It never worked but I hoped it would.

"Hey." Of course I couldn't help but look up. Ryan. It was him. What is it with him and turning up wherever I am?

"Hi." I said, deciding I was finished looking. I turned on my heel and walked away over to the counter. I slammed the Kit Kat's down on the counter as the lady rang them up. I paid for them quickly not waiting for my change and walked outside.

"Laurie, wait!" I heard Ryan call me as I went right to go right home. His footsteps pounding on the pavement as he caught up to me. I didn't look at him. I didn't want him thinking I waned to have a conversation with him. "I saw that fight your brother got into today." That made me look up at him.

"So?" What does that have to do with you?

"Yeah well, why were they fighting anyway?" he asked. Oh so you're just here to tease me. Why would you waste all your time laughing at me when you could be out having a life, I wanted to yell at him. That would raw attention to me, not exactly something I want right now.

"You really don't know?" I asked him, hoping he'd give up the act and leave me alone. He shook his head.

"Nope." I didn't want to answer him. "Come on tell me." He urged me on.

"I don't even know you." I said, opening my chocolate bar.

"So, everyone else knows. Why can't you tell me?" he asked. I looked around us, looking for one of his friends to be watching us. But there was no one.

"Well why don't you go ask everyone else?" He let out a sigh of frustration, it sounded like. He wanted me to admit that the fight was because I got teased. But I wasn't going to say that. No way was I going to say it.

"C'mon Laurie. . ." And then it fell silent. Neither of us spoke. I was kind of waiting for him to say 'Ok bye then.' And walk away. Of course he didn't do that. He was dared to annoy me and he'll get five bucks from his friends if he gets me to admit it. We kept walking on in silence and we got closer and closer to my house. I stopped outside our house waiting for him to leave. But he didn't, just stood there still waiting for an answer. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He said softly.

"Ok, fine, I won't." I said and turned towards the house. Steve was still standing out the front, leaning against the wall. Though he wasn't smoking anymore. I opened the front door but before I went in I handed the unopened Kit Kat bar to him. He took it without looking or saying anything. Then I went inside.

I didn't eat that night. There wasn't much left to eat in the house. Which wasn't unusual. It's Thursday today. But dad isn't home yet. He should've been here ages ago. It's seven o' clock and he was usually home by six. I'm trying to keep myself from looking out the windows, to see if his car is turning into the driveway. But it's pretty hard considering I've opened all the curtains in the house.

As I settled down on the couch the phone rang. I jumped up immediately. I knew Steve wasn't going to answer it. He'd been in a bad mood all afternoon.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey Laurie." It was dad. "I'm not gonna be home until later." My smile turned into a frown.

"Why?"

"Because there's heaps of work to do and I really need to finish it." He told me. I knew he was lying. He was speaking quickly, trying to get off the phone quicker so he wouldn't feel bad about lying to me.

"Oh ok, see you later." I said.

"Laurie, I'm sorry. But there's just heaps to do-"

"It's ok. Bye." I said and I hung up really quickly. Yeah right he was sorry. You just don't want me complaining about it later. But he should be spending time with us Steve and I.

I was sitting in the lounge room reading when Steve came in. He had stayed outside until after the sun had set. I had no idea why. But I didn't really care either. Then once he'd come in he had spent the rest of his time in his bedroom. He sat down on the other end of the couch and was staring at the TV. The sound was low so I could concentrate on reading, but he didn't turn it up.

"You ok?" I asked, looking up from the book I was holding.

"Yeah." He said. And I left it at that. If he didn't want to talk, that was fine with me. But the thing was he did want to talk. "How come you never said Daniel and Ralph teased you?" he asked. I went red. I tried to make it go away by pretending we weren't having this conversation but it didn't work.

"Just 'cause." I told him pretending I wanted to read instead of talk. I looked at my book, opened in my hands and pretended to be interested in it. But right now I couldn't concentrate on it.

"Because I had no-"

"Actually I thought your friend might have told you." I said, slowly. We were both quiet a moment after I said this.

"Which friend?"

"Two-Bit, he's in my class and I thought he might have said somethin'. "

"I mean you didn't have t'come runnin' to me every time they laughed or whatever. But if you had of told me. . ." he slowly stopped speaking. "It's just I didn't think you'd be able to live with that." I sighed. I can't live with it, not forever. I just don't know any way of stopping it, I thought.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't have done anything about it." I said.

"Yeah I would've."

"Really, what would you have done?" I asked. I knew his answer, I don't know.

"I don't know." Neither of us said anything then. I don't think either of us knew what we were talking about. What was the point in arguing about what we could have done? Steve opened his mouth about to say something but I beat him to it.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." I said, standing up and stomping off to my bedroom. I threw my book at the wall and kicked my door. Gosh, I don't know why I'm angry now. I don't know why I never tried to stop Daniel and Ralph before. I used to think they bullied everyone. But I soon learnt I was their only target.

I lay face down on my bed, hardly being able to breath from my face being pressed into my pillow. But I didn't care. Tomorrow I wasn't going to take any crap from Daniel and Ralph. I was going to stand up to them. And I mean it.


	5. Chapter 5

B R E A K I N G. T H E. G I R L.  
_Laurie Jean Randle_  
**Chapter Two**

It was Friday after school. Brenda and I were hanging out at my house, sitting around watching TV and talking. Tomorrow was the party and I still wasn't sure if I wanted to go yet. Brenda and Jane both had dates for the party. Well, they had someone to take them to the party. But me, I didn't want to go by myself or with anyone else. I didn't want to spend my night sitting around while Brenda and Jane danced and drank. Maybe I'll go. Maybe.

"You coming the party tomorrow?" Brenda asked, getting up to change the channel on the TV. I rolled my eyes, that's all she'd said all day. You coming the party? I so badly wanted to say yes but I knew that tomorrow I'd make an excuse as to why I couldn't go.

"Maybe." I mumbled. Brenda sat back down on the couch beside me, grinning. She kept watching me pick at a loose thread on my skirt as we sat there silently. Finally I looked up at her. "What?" I asked breaking out into a grin myself.

"You have to come." she said.

"And why?"

"Because, you hardly ever come out anymore." I shrugged.

"Yeah, 'cause all you 'nd Jane ever do is go to parties. And I'm not really a party kinda person." Brenda sighed and sat back on the couch, her arms crossed. "Oh don't get angry." I said getting up off the couch. "I'll go, just this once." I said as I walked past her to my bedroom. You see what I said. 'I'll go, just this once'. Which means I'm going so she'll be in a good mood. So then when I turn up at the party if I want to leave early I can. So that's basically my plan. Brenda realized what I said and she jumped up, grinning again.

"Oh great! It'll be so much fun. What you gonna wear? Quick let's go to your room!" she yelled and grabbed my hand pulling me along to my bedroom. She let go of my hand and flung open my wardrobe's doors. Then she was silent. I knew what that meant. She was concentrating. If she concentrated half this much at school she'd be getting A's! "Here." she said grabbing a top. "If you wear this top with that skirt you got on, you'll look great!" I looked at the top she was holding up. It was one of those tight tops that only greaser girls wear. It was grey and I knew it would look good with my black skirt but I wasn't sure about it. How much weight could I lose in one day?

I scrunched up my nose while I looked at the top. And Brenda sighed.

"Just trying to help. If you don't like it why do you have it?" she said tossing the top onto my bed and going back to my wardrobe. We were silent again as she chose something else. Until there was a knock at the door. We both looked at each other and shrugged. "I'll get it!" she yelled and ran out of the room. I heard the front door open and Brenda exchanged a few words with whoever was there. "Laurie!" she yelled. I didn't even bother asking who was there. Who could possibly be there anyway? Jane? Steve? But why would he knock on the door? I slowly went out to the front door where Brenda was grinning at me as I walked towards her. I couldn't see who was standing outside, I didn't want to. I wanted to turn around and go back to my room. The urge to do this was even stronger when I saw who had come to see me. Ryan. Great, just great.

"Hi." I said awkwardly and looked at Brenda. She was playing with the door handle, as if she wanted me to pretend she wasn't there.

"Hey Laurie." Ryan said and he looked at Brenda. She looked up at the both of us and smiled, then walked away. Ryan waited until she'd gone into my bed room before he said anything else. "Hey I was just wondering if uh you were goin' to that party tomorrow?" he said, getting quieter as he went on. My eyes grew wide and I stared past him off into the street. He wasn't looking at me anyway, instead staring at the ground. We didn't say anything for a few moments. But then I realized what was happening and thought it best to say something. "Are you goin' to the party?" he asked.

"Uh well yeah, I am-"

"Cool, so I'll come get you at like eight-nine?" he asked. I nodded slowly. "See ya." he said quickly and turned on his heel, quickly walking down to the footpath and disappearing out of view. I was still standing there with the door open when Brenda came up to me, jumping up and down.

"You're going to the party with Ryan!" she squealed and pulled me back to my bedroom. I was still shocked, I guess. Ryan had just asked me to the party. No, this isn't real. It's another one of those stupid dares! I didn't say a word until we were back in my bedroom. "You are gonna go aren't you?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know." I said and sat down on my bed.

"You have to go! I mean, it's Ryan!" she said as she held up the grey top again. I shrugged still trying to figure a way of getting out of this. I mean tomorrow night he's gonna turn up here and all his friends will be watching from across the street and I'll be completely embarrassed.

"Yeah but he doesn't really wanna go with me." I said.

"What you mean?" Brenda dropped the top on the floor and sat down beside me.

"I mean isn't it weird that the last few days he's been hanging around me and stuff. I mean I just don't think he really wants to be you know, my friend." I said quietly. Brenda laughed then said:

"Of course he doesn't want to be your friend. He wants to be your boyfriend!" she laughed and laid back on the bed. That didn't make me feel much better though it did make me grin.

"Ok fine. I'll go, but if he or you or Jane embarrass me in any way I am coming back home and I'll never trust you again."

* * *

I woke up the next morning just as Steve was leaving. I knew it was him because he has a habit of slamming the door every time he closes it. Usually my mother would tell him off but she still isn't back. Anyway when I went out to the kitchen that morning my dad was sitting at the table, a bottle of beer in one hand.

"Hey." I said smiling at him as I went to get some cereal from the cupboard. He nodded at me and took another mouthful of his beer. I took the milk and my bowl of cereal to the table and sat down. As I poured the milk into my bowl I ignored him and pretended he wasn't really drinking. Why would he be drinking anyway, I thought as I sat at the table with my cereal. It's only about nine am. Too early to be drinking. Well I think it's too early. We sat there silently as I finished my breakfast and he finished his beer. It was awkward and I wished that he would say something or leave the room.

I finished up quickly and pushed my bowl away from me. I didn't really want to leave right away and look like I was avoiding him. But I didn't exactly want to stay here either. I thought about this for a few minutes. By then I thought it would be okay to leave. I stood up and picked up my bowl, taking it over to the sink. I turned around, on my way back to my bedroom. I heard dad mumble something to himself. I didn't look at him, instead left the room staring at the ground.

"Laurie!" I stopped walking and stood still. What the hell does he want; I thought as I turned around and went back to the kitchen. "I said put the milk away." he said slamming his beer bottle on the table. I rolled my eyes and went over to teh table.

"I didn't hear you." I said as I leaned across the table to get the carton of milk. There wasn't a moment of silence between when I said that and when he hit me.

"Don't fuckin' lie to me!" he said and struck me across the left side of my cheek. Oh so he didn't exactly punch I but it was enough to make me drop the milk and run to the bathroom. I checked it out, there was nothing there. Except my cheek was red and I knew it would bruise. It was just a hit across the face but it was still enough for me to bury my face in my pillow and cry myself back to sleep.

* * *

Saturday night. Well, it was five o'clock. I was at home with Brenda and Jane. We were getting ready together. We were going to go to Jane's house and get ready but since Ryan said he'd pick me up from here, we had no choice. Unfortunately Steve had two of his friends here, Two-Bit and Sodapop. Now Jane and Brenda feel it's their duty to do anything to get attention from them. It's actually working. They've been here since three o' clock and so far haven't even thought about the party. But I have an idea.

Right now the two of them are in the lounge room with the guys. I think Steve is kind of annoyed with them but he hasn't said anything to them. I stood in the doorway to the lounge room. All five of them looked up at me.

"Who left these in the bathroom?" I asked holding up a box of tampons. Soda, Steve and Two-Bit turned and stared at Brenda and Jane right away, grins on their faces and about to burst out laughing. Brenda and Jane stared at me horrified. The guys now looked kind of grossed out but thought it was funny to see the girls get embarrassed. Brenda and Jane both stood up and quickly rushed out of the room to my bedroom. I smiled and followed them.

I slammed the door shut behind me and chucked the tampons at Jane.

"Gross." she said and ducked down.

"They're your's!" I laughed and Brenda joined in. Jane stood up and crossed her arms.

"Aren't we supposed to be getting ready for the party?" she asked. I nodded; it's about time I thought. I looked over what they were going to wear. They had left their outfits lying on the bed so they wouldn't get wrinkled. Brenda had a white dress and black heels. She wore this to every party and it seemed shorter each time I saw it. Jane had a blue tartan mini skirt and a white top. We quickly got changed; Brenda in the bathroom while Jane and I took turns in my room. Finally we were ready. It was only almost five-thirty now. But we were going to go for a walk before Ryan picked me up. I was going to be waiting for him alone since Brenda and Jane were going to meet their dates at one of their houses.

Brenda put my make-up on me. I had lipstick, mascara, heaps of it, and eye shadow. Then we brushed our hair enough so that it was straight. We were ready. Brenda and Jane had done each others make-up and I thought they looked beautiful. It was six-fifteen now. And still light enough outside for us to go for a walk and show ourselves off. Well, that's what Jane and Brenda said.

At first I didn't mind the idea of going out for a walk. But once we were outside and we had gotten a few stares from some guys I was really uncomfortable and wanted so badly to go back home. But Jane and Brenda didn't even realize they were having so much fun getting all this attention. I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my eyes on the ground as we walked on. I begged silently for the sky to get darker quickly, but it wasn't working. After a few more minutes I wanted to go home. I couldn't stand this any longer.

"Hey you guys wanna go back now?" I asked. They both shook their heads and laughed. "Yeah well, I wanna go back home I'll see you at the party." I said sighing, and then I turned and began to walk away. I don't think they even noticed me leaving because they didn't call after me or say bye. I didn't mind. I was going to a party with Ryan! I had been thinking about it all day. Sometimes I felt scared; I'd never been to a party with a date. I was worried, what if he wanted to kiss me? I tried to push these thoughts to the back of my mind and concentrate on all the good things that would happen at this party. And I couldn't name one thing.

* * *

When I got back to the house Steve and his friends were gone. Good, I thought, I've got the house to myself. I checked my clothes in the mirror, and my makeup. That was when I noticed it. The big purple bruise that was sitting on my left cheek. I bit my lip, wondering what to do. I could cover it up, Jane and Brenda had left their makeup here. I quickly went through their makeup that was left sitting on my dresser. I found the foundation rather quickly. Because it had 'Foundation' written on it beside the brand label. I opened it up and didn't bother using the sponge Brenda had used, instead my fingers would do. I smoothed it over my cheek and kept rubbing it in. until the purple was gone and it looked pretty good.

I washed my hands and sat back on the couch in the lounge room. There was nothing left to do but wait.


End file.
